Congo: Consolidating the Peace

CONGO: CONSOLIDATING THE PEACE Africa Report N°128 – 5 July 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................... i I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 II. OUTCOME OF THE TRANSITION........................................................................... 2 A. KABILA, CLEAR WINNER OF THE PEACE PROCESS ................................................................2 1. Dominating the transition ..........................................................................................2 2. Regional détente and marginalising local conflicts ...................................................5 B. KABILA, FRUSTRATED WINNER OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS............................................5 1. An unexpectedly difficult election.............................................................................6 2. An unreliable parliamentary majority........................................................................7 III. THE CHALLENGES ..................................................................................................... 8 A. POLITICAL.............................................................................................................................8 1. Risk of government paralysis ....................................................................................8 2. Risk of authoritarian rule ...........................................................................................9 B. SECURITY ...........................................................................................................................12 1. The East and South ..................................................................................................13 2. The West..................................................................................................................16 IV. CONSOLIDATING THE PEACE.............................................................................. 17 A. STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY ...........................................................................................17 1. Balancing power relations .......................................................................................17 2. Democratising resource management......................................................................19 B. IMPROVING SECURITY.........................................................................................................20 1. New security forces .................................................................................................21 2. Ending local conflicts, dealing with foreign armed groups .....................................22 C. A DIFFERENT INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT.....................................................................23 V. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 26 APPENDICES A. MAP OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ......................................................... 27 B. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP ................................................................ 28 C. CRISIS GROUP REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS ON AFRICA ................................................... 29 D. CRISIS GROUP BOARD OF TRUSTEES ............................................................................ 31 Africa Report N°128 5 July 2007 CONGO: CONSOLIDATING THE PEACE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo were solution has entrenched animosity in those areas, a milestone in the peace process but much remains to creating the potential for further urban unrest and be done to consolidate the gains. A return to full-scale pockets of latent conflict. war is unlikely but violence in Bas-Congo and Kinshasa in early 2007 with over 400 people killed The Kabila government has a strong mandate but the and renewed threats of war in the Kivus show the opposition, with the support of over a third of the country’s fragility. The new government’s relations electorate, has a role in building democracy which with the opposition have deteriorated sharply, raising needs to be protected if Congo is to be stable. Despite the possibility of a drift to authoritarianism and urban late but commendable efforts to grant it more space in unrest in the West, while militias continue to clash parliament, the opposition’s capacity to play that role with the weak national army in the East, displacing remains severely undermined by the recurrent use of hundreds of thousands of civilians each year, many of force against its supporters and the exile of Jean- whom succumb to hunger and disease. The elected Pierre Bemba, the main challenger to President Kabila democratic institutions need to promote transparent during the recent election. The opposition’s virtual and accountable governance, which should in turn exclusion from governorships despite winning five stimulate continuous international support as opposed provincial assembly elections is another sign of to gradual disengagement. A new partnership shrinking political pluralism. The constitutional arrangement is urgently required between the requirement to set up strong local governments government and the international community to push capable of providing accountability for management forward on deep governance reforms. of 40 per cent of national tax revenues is also at risk. The transition was in some ways an outstanding To rebuild the state and augment its authority, the success. It unified a divided country and improved government must strengthen democracy or risk being security in much of its territory. The six main armed paralysed by recurrent unrest, structural impotence groups were integrated to form a national army, and renewed instability in ever more parts of the however flawed it remains. The Independent Electoral country. Only a change of governance can provide the Commission organised provincial and national legitimacy and capacity to raise the revenues elections, considered by most observers to be necessary to distribute peace dividends to all sectors relatively free and fair and ushering in the first truly of society. democratic government in 40 years. Foreign troops withdrew, and relations with Rwanda, one of the main The government still lacks the capacity to control the sponsors of the war, improved dramatically. national territory. The main problems are well known: However, the new governing institutions remain weak ill-disciplined, ill-equipped and often abusive security and abusive or non-existent. forces, continuing control by militias of large areas of the East and the risk of civil unrest and repressive The integrated army has become the worst human violence in the West, where there is little government rights abuser, and the corrupt public administration is authority. The problems are closely intertwined: the unable to provide the most rudimentary social weakness and partisanship of the security forces fuel services. While the security situation in areas like popular resentment and allow militias to prosper. Ituri is better, there is little progress in disarming Creating a national, apolitical army out of the various militia groups in the Kivus, and new political tensions armed groups and competent police able to handle have come to the fore, in particular in the West, which urban disorder peacefully and provide genuine voted heavily for the opposition. The government’s security is central to consolidating stability. use of force in Bas-Congo and the capital to crack down on its opponents instead of seeking a negotiated Congo: Consolidating the Peace Crisis Group Africa Report N°128, 5 July 2007 Page ii Donors have often treated security sector reform as (c) a security chapter, addressing small purely technical but the governance and security arms, army integration, disarmament, challenges are inherently political and must be treated demobilisation and reinsertion (DDR) of as such. The command structure, size and control of militias and foreign armed groups; the security forces (in particular the 12,000-strong (d) an economic chapter addressing local Presidential Guard) and the financial administration regulation of resource exploitation, of the sector suffer from blatant political manipulation including foreign investment and and pervasive, high-level corruption that have made contracts signed during the war, and real reform all but impossible. The logic of the creation of an economic environment transition was to buy peace by giving all signatories conducive to stabilisation of the to the deal lucrative positions, an accommodation that provinces; came at the cost of continued impunity for human rights abuses and corruption and left intact patronage (e) a transitional justice chapter, addressing networks that permeate the state and army, crimes committed by all sides during and undermining much-needed reforms. after the war and the modalities of inter- communal reconciliation; The way forward lies in strengthening democratic governance. The government must allow the (f) an outreach campaign to inform and opposition and institutions – parliament, press and reassure the population about the peace courts – to do their jobs. Reform requires genuine initiative; and political will to tackle impunity by vetting police and (g) an action plan, drafted with MONUC, for army officers and making courts independent. The integration of the mixed brigades

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